Describes how the use of problem-based learning as an instructional methodology in undergraduate nursing curricula has been identified as one way to facilitate development of nursing students' abilities to become self-directed in learning. Discusses the theoretical links between problem-based learning and self-directed learning. (EV)

Calls for more manuscripts on problem-based learning in the biochemical sciences. Includes information on problem-based learning conferences. (SAH)

Discusses reasons why problem solving has failed. Offers an alternative approach--the use of investigations in mathematics instruction. Lists the characteristics of an idealized classroom. (ASK)

A law school implemented a problem-based learning curriculum and a new assessment system, including block tests, portfolios, and formative computer-assisted testing. The assessment program was continuously monitored and evaluated. Outcomes included enhanced skills and a change in attitudes toward problem-based and lifelong learning. (SK)

Introduces the SPICES curriculum of the Manipal College of Medical Sciences in Nepal, which is student centered, problem based, integrated, community-based, elective oriented, and systematic. Reports that the majority of students opined that the combination of didactic lectures and problem-based learning sessions were definitely beneficial.…

Describes a project in which students write about their experiences and cover all the aspects of book publishing during their visits to a selected outdoor site. (YDS)

Implementation of problem-based learning in an architecture studio illustrates the conditions and assumptions necessary for such learning to be truly student regulated. If the aim is knowledge construction, the questions of whose knowledge is relevant and what are the effects of indoctrination into a profession must be addressed. (SK)

Explains how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) influences geography curricula and how project-based learning can be applied to GIS experiences. Introduces a project investigating non-geography college students' design and implementation of a environmental GIS application. (Contains 16 references.) (YDS)

Explains the evolution of the objectives of engineering education from knowledge to skills which is referred to as a 'paradigm shift'. Reviews the relationship between the demands and the educational objectives, and discusses the implications for assessment and the relationship between educational methods and assessment. (Author/YDS)

Reports on the implementation of a problem-orientated undergraduate medical curriculum that emphasizes experiential learning and the mastering of practical skills. Finds that attitudes, knowledge, and skills are interrelated and contribute to an enhanced process of learning. (Author/MM)

How, where and why GIS is taught has been debated heavily in the geography literature. This article is a contribution to that debate, because it offers a new perspective from which to teach GIS: problem-based learning. In a problem-based learning classroom, theoretical foundations and the real world of problems are understood as constitutive of…

The purpose of this research was to look for possible benefits and drawbacks of the use of computer-supported simulation in the teaching and learning of experimental research methodology and statistics. In the study three research methodology groups were compared. The results show that there were significant differences in favour of the…

This study examined the influence of group structures upon six groups of distributed graduate students as they pursued a six-week problem-based learning activity by communicating in an asynchronous computer conference. Henri and Rigault's (1996) content analysis framework and Howell-Richardson and Mellar's (1996) guidelines for interconnectedness…

This article comprises the results of a qualitative study designed to examine community college leaders' attitudes toward problem-based learning as a method for teaching leadership. The respondents in the study participated in a year-long community college leadership academy, which used problem-based learning as the primary instructional method.…

A discovery-based experiment is developed depending on a "false assumption" that the students mistakenly assume they know the structure of a reaction product and are forced to reconcile observations that are inconsistent with this assumption. This experiment involves the chemistry of azulenes, an interesting class of intensely colored aromatic…